Law Firm Overview

With an office located in the heart of Shanghai — China's commercial, financial, and industrial hub — Foley is well positioned to assist U.S., Asian, and European clients with the complex matters that arise when doing business in Greater China. By combining the acumen of the firm's internationally recognized Intellectual Property (IP) Department with its extensive hands-on experience in the Chinese business market, Foley has differentiated itself by focusing on critical aspects of business success in China: IP protection, enforcement, and strategic management.

China presents an increasingly fertile market for innovation and investment, one in which IP plays a role of growing importance. Experienced IP counsel are critical to the successful navigation of China's complex legal, regulatory, and cultural framework. The attorneys in Foley's Shanghai office have many years of experience assisting multinational companies doing business in China as well as domestic Chinese companies pursuing the development of strategic and proactive IP programs.

As the Shanghai Office Managing Partner and Asia Practice Chair, Foley IP Partner Catherine Sun spearheads the firm's strategic focus on IP in China. Prior to joining Foley, Ms. Sun was head of the China IP Practice in the Shanghai office of an international law firm. She spent seven years practicing law and focusing on IP protection and enforcement issues in the United States before returning first to Hong Kong and then to Shanghai to practice IP law in 2002. In the early 1990s, Ms. Sun practiced IP law in Beijing.

Because most companies do not exist by IP alone, a number of important business areas also are essential to the creation, operation, and success of companies doing business in China. Foley's Shanghai office is supported by seasoned China Practice attorneys with years of experience living and working in China. They assist clients with IP asset management, licensing, and dispute resolution while also drawing on the firm's Business Law and Litigation Departments to provide counsel on a variety of corporate, regulatory, and dispute resolution matters related to commercial transactions, technology transfer, labor and employment, tax, venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and other direct onshore and offshore investment strategies. The firm's presence in China also is complemented by its strength in the United States, where the firm has coast-to-coast offices and provides the full range of corporate legal counsel.

Foley has extensive experience assisting clients ranging from privately held, emerging companies to Fortune 100 multinationals in their business dealings with China. We have counseled clients in a wide range of industries, including automotive, manufacturing, high-technology, life sciences, health care, food, media and entertainment, and sports.

Areas of Practice

• Intellectual Property
• Corporate Transactions
• Regulatory and Government Affairs
• Dispute Resolution